Nervous rescued stray (indoors for 3 mo), tips on getting into carrier, needs to see vet

[houseofnine]

Hi all,

With pro rescue help, my husband and I trapped & took in a stray mama cat and her 4 small kittens. The kittens are 4 mo old now, had all their shots and deworming, and are thriving and integrated with our 4 resident cats. Mama, named Hanna, has been living in a safe room by herself, separated from kittens at 12 wks so her milk will dry up and she can be spayed. We spend as much time with her as we can, but we both work full time. We've made the room as comfy as we can..a couple of cozy beds and a tall scratcher/tree so she can look out the window. We talk to her a lot and try to feed her at the same times every day. The sad thing is that when we try to pet her, she cowers as if she is going to be hit. We guess she was outside for 3 years or more, surviving through hurricanes and bad winters. She has shown some signs of illness--it may just be a recurrence of worms, but I really need to get her to a vet so she can have blood work and a thorough checkup. She was seen by a vet when she was first trapped and was snap tested for FIV/FelLeuk (both neg), vaccinated, and got one treatment of Revolution. Can anyone give me some good tips on catching her? We're trying to get a mobile vet to come to the house to minimize the trauma, but we still need to be able to pick her up! Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[ritz]

Thank you so much for taking care of these precious animals.
Regarding the mother cat, you could start feeding her in a cat carrier, and only a cat carrier, to get her use to one.
A mobile vet would be super of course, make sure they are experienced with dealing with feral/stray/scared cats.
Have you tried simply holding out your hand, fist shapped, and letter her smell your hand? Or, 'petting' the mamma cat with a feather at the end of a stick to get her use to being touched? The next progressive step would be brushing her.
Spaying might calm her down. Also, I wonder if the mother cat saw you petting and playing with her kittens, whether she'd feel safer, less afraid?
Ritz was rescued, lived on the streets for the first five months of her life. After four years, she still sometimes cowers if I carry in my hand an unusual object, like a broom, or make a sudden mood like tripping over my own feet. I'm very verbal with her, telling her, "I'm behind you", "I'm going around you" so she isn't startled.
PS: time to get the kittens spayed/neutered, if not already.

 

[StefanZ]

A tip is to have the carrier in her room, always standing with open doors, and something soft to lay in.  Making the carrier a nice cat igloo to nap in.

Another similiar tip is to give her treats / food there, especially shortly before the trapping.

And if you go away with her in the carrier, make sure you sometimes just drive around and come back.  So driving away inside the carries shall not be a synonyme with unpleasant happenings.

Some tricks of trade, is, its easier to just sing down a non cooperative cat then force it in a carrier.  So carrier with removable roof is best.  Next best is to lthe the carrier stand with the opening up, and sink down the uncooperative cat in it.   Two person: one helds the cat, and sinks down, the other steering and taking away legs...

This is of course mostly with uncooperative home cats.  A ex homeless will probably fight viciously...

Next trick, may be to wrat an non cooopeatative cat in a thick towel.  Wrapped up and immobilized, they usually cease resistance, and you can get them into the carrier - sink down, as said, the easiest so...

Are you going to adopt them all?  both mom and kittens?  You do already have residents.

If not, try to find the kittens new homes, its easier now when they still are kittens.

Tx a lot for caring!

Good luck!

 

[houseofnine]

Hi Ritz, and thanks.

Mama has seen us play and be affectionate with the kittens, but I was told to separate them so she would stop lactating (to make spaying safer). I will try the closed hand approach. I know not to reach directly for her and to keep my hand low. She lets my husband pet her sometimes, but other times she gets "twitchy," so he stops. Have done a little brushing and playing with fishing pole toy/laser pointer. She doesn't really play--I suspect that after 3+ years trying to survive on her own, real hunting is all she knows. She is a really sweet cat and has shown little/no violent behavior other than a couple scratches/swats/hisses. You can tell she was eating vermin for years, because her fangs are dull. I've ordered some Spirit Essences and plugged in a Feliway diffuser. Again, my main worry is getting her to a vet for a thorough exam--there's been a little coughing, occasional diarrhea, and barfing up some hairballs (longhaired cat) and bile. Money is not an issue so we can afford the mobile vet. At least she's had vaccs and tested negative. Any other advice you can give is appreciated..we'll try anything really. =)

 

[ondine]

I second the suggestion of getting her used to the carrier.  Make it a safe place within her safe room.

I also second the kudos for helping them all.  Thank you!

 

[houseofnine]

They are very easy to love.

We don't have kids, so thankfully have some spare income to take best care of them that we can.

 

[gatita35]

I think if you see some videos on YouTube on the subject would be a lot of help . Thanks for rescuing cats! You are an angel!